What happened to the planters?

About two years ago, very large wooden planters were placed on the pavement on both sides of London Road, between Morrisons and Cleveland Place. Each planter contained a mature Silver Birch tree, with a most attractive white trunk (Betula jacquemontii). About a year later these disappeared and were replaced by trendy rusted planters of the same size, which were inscribed with words written in such a fashion that it was impossible to read what they said. Each planter this time was planted with a multi stemmed tree, and some ivy trailing over the sides. Yesterday when driving along London Road, I noticed the leaves of the trees in the planters are going brown and crisp, and are surrounded by a sea of weeds, the ivy is rampant and untidy and the inscriptions are becoming mostly, impossible to decipher. I would like to know as a Bath resident and tax payer, why the original wooden planters were removed, also where did the expensive birch trees go?, Why were these metal planters introduced, and most basic of all, why have the trees not been maintained? Everyone who owns even the smallest planter, knows that to survive, plants need copious amounts of water, especially trees, which do not have their roots in the ground. We are always hearing how cash strapped the council is; so why this dreadful waste of money? I can understand how lovely it would look for visitors coming into our beautiful city to be welcomed by flourishing green trees, but first impressions now are of dying trees and weeds. Elizabeth Asbury North Road